


Tell Her You Love Her

by IAmStoryteller



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batwoman (Comic), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Robin (Comics), Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Canon? What Canon? Fuck Canon, Developing Relationship, Epic Friendship, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Gen, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 09:10:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15627435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmStoryteller/pseuds/IAmStoryteller
Summary: Artemis was not too sure about Jason's new love interest, Bette Kane.





	Tell Her You Love Her

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh, where did this come from you ask? I wanted to try something a little different so it's one character watching the developing relationship between two other character.
> 
> Note: I have not read the new Red Hood and the Outlaws--but I heard goods things about it, vaguely. So I decided to make my own Outlaws team.
> 
> For those that don't know, Artemis is not the Artemis from Young Justice. Red-Haired Amazon Artemis is the Rebirth version of original Amazon of Bana-Mighdall, blonde Artemis, who took over for Diana in the 1990s as Wonder Woman, only to die. (Blonde Artemis made a reappearance in the latest Wonder Woman issue, fyi). I also know that in the RH&TO comics, they are setting up red head Artemis to hook up with Jason, but I'm eh about it?
> 
> JayBette is my jam. We all know this.

“He didn’t come home after patrol again,” commented Donna. Artemis and Donna were at the kitchen table in the Outlaws’ safe house at the edge of Gotham City. Five in the morning, the two Amazons were early risers, and always made the tea and coffee for everyone else. Artemis was still getting used to the fact that she and Donna were a couple, and there was a kind of nice calmness to their relationship.

Artemis took a sip of her tea and said, “Jason is a big boy and can take care of himself, Donna.” Admittedly, she was a little worried. Jason would normally text them if he was going to be at Tim’s safe house or the Manor or off doing something else. His silence either meant that he could be hurt or just so exhausted that he passed out somewhere.

“Don’t act so disaffected, Arty,” said Donna, smiling. 

Artemis scoffed. “I can’t be chasing after him every time he does something stupid. I wouldn’t have any time for you.” Donna laughed. Suddenly they heard the door opened and in came Jason strolling into the room, still dressed in his Red Hood gear from the night before. He went straight to the fridge.

“Hey, Donna, Artemis,” said Jason. He began pulling out eggs, bacon and milk to begin breakfast. He was the cook of the Outlaws; he was the only that didn’t burn anything and the only one that could made good food. 

Artemis sighed slightly as he didn’t give an explanation of his whereabouts or if he was injured or not. Donna scowled.

“You didn’t call, Jason,” said Donna, stonily. Artemis sighed again.

Jason looked over and rolled his eyes with a scoff. “Easy, Mom. I crashed at Tim’s place last night.” Artemis noted it immediately. It was a lie. While Donna and Kory tended to take Jason’s word at face value, Artemis spent more than enough time with him to know when he lied his voice inflected at the part of his statement that was a lie. She had great hearing after all, but if Jason didn’t want them to know where he was, she wasn’t going to push the issue.

“We were just worried about you,” said Donna, in a hurt tone.

Artemis glared over at Jason. _Take responsibility for being mean to her,_ her eyes told him. 

“Sorry, I’ll text you if I don’t make it here after a patrol,” said Jason, in a non-committed tone of voice. However, when he finished making them over-easy eggs and bacon, Artemis saw Jason gave Donna few extra pieces of crispy bacon as an apology. He went back to the stove to make more food for the rest of them, including Bizarro who lumbered sleepily into the kitchen at the smell of bacon.

While Donna helped Bizarro with his food, Artemis watched Jason cook. She didn’t like not having knowledge about the people she cared about and for her, Jason was important to her. Once maybe there was an attraction, but that faded with time, for the both of them, he was a dear and true friend.

It was just that he was in a good mood. And by good mood, it didn’t mean he messed with Batman or one of his brothers in a good-natured way and got away with it. Nor did it mean a successful mission or case. Kory and Roy came into the kitchen and sat at the table in their chairs, they were being their sickeningly sweet couple self and there was no comment about from Jason. That never happened.

Artemis’ brain screeched to a halt. Had Jason met someone? Was he seeing someone? And he didn’t tell her! He was the first person she told about her and Donna. Remaining stoic as she ate her breakfast, she calmed herself down. 

Jason’s love-life was a mess and barely existent in the first place. His first crush was on Donna. He and Kory were a temporary deal. And there were was flirtations between him and Artemis, herself. He definitely had a type, certainly, but other than them, the three women in the room, he hadn’t experience with average women. 

_It was probably a one-night stand deal,_ Artemis thought to herself. It had to be.

_~_~_~_~

She, Jason and Donna were perched up on a building watching a drug lord of Park Row enter his girlfriend’s apartment building. They were going to take him down once he had left the building and ship him off to the GPD. This kind of detective and waiting work was not for Artemis or Donna. Artemis preferred the head-on approach with situations and bad men. For all his complaining, Jason did take Batman’s detective lessons to heart and he made a fine detective on his own (but not as good as Dick or Tim, Jason would argue when it was brought up).

Artemis noticed two more people arrive on the top of the building. Her eyes narrowed, but relaxed at the sight of Jason’s big brother (no matter how much Jason hated Dick Grayson being called his big brother), Nightwing and Batman’s cousin, Flamebird (she thought because there were so many non-powered vigilantes in this damned city, it was hard to keep track of them). Donna beamed at the sight and leaped over to hug them both. 

Donna was a hugger. What could Artemis do about it?

“Fancy meeting you here,” said Nightwing, raising an eyebrow. “What’s the good word, Red Hood?” He and Flamebird went to stand next to Red Hood to watch the building.

“Drug lord bust,” said Red Hood, eyes not taken off of the building. “What about you?”

“Kidnapping suspect,” said Nightwing. “Me and Flamebird are tailing him to find the girl is all.”

“When you two start working together,” asked Red Hood, vaguely annoyed, “I thought you two couldn’t get along for more than a few minutes.”

“It’s called talking, Hood,” commented Flamebird. She said it like a veiled jab. “We are adults, after all, and we can be professional.” Jason shrugged. Artemis watched as the three went into their detective modes. Nightwing was on the comms with Oracle. Flamebird was on her phone flipping through crime scene photos. And Red Hood was waiting patiently like a hunter. She and Donna were just the muscle, waiting for the right time to pounce.

Artemis traded looks with her girlfriend. Donna smiled, knowingly (in the same annoying way that Diana does). She, too, saw the influences of Batman in each of them, more subtle for Flamebird as she was never his direct protégé as far as Artemis could recall, but there nonetheless. And if Red Hood leaned towards Flamebird more than necessary when she was talking details of the kidnapping, then who was Artemis to judge?

_~_~_~_~

For once, Artemis was resting after a big battle. She was lounging on the couch and watching some news that was irritating her. Jason was in the kitchen baking some cookies because his little brother Damian and his best friend Jon Kent were going to be visiting because someone needed to watch them during their “missions.” It was Jason’s turn, so demanded Tim who was not going to watch them again for some reason.

She heard Jason’s phone buzzing with that annoying lame Batman theme song that someone posted on the internet. Curious, she wondered if Tim was there with the boys to pawn off on Jason.

She grabbed the phone and looked at it.

_“Hood, I’m gonna be in Japan for the next few days at a tennis camp helping my old coach’s kid out. I’ll see you when I get back. ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3.”_

Artemis blinked once. The contact was “Pretty Bird.” There were two people called that in their circle of vigilantes. Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, was one, but mostly jokingly by Roy, Kory and Donna. The other was Bette Kane, aka Flamebird, and that was mostly play flirting by the same three people.

Artemis grinned. She couldn’t wait to tell Donna. Her girlfriend was going to be ecstatic. And Kory, too.

_~_~_~_~

“Oh my! Are you serious? That’s wonderful,” said Kory, clapping her hands in joy. Artemis waited until they were on a training expedition on Themyscria before telling Donna and Kory the news about Jason’s new girl. “They make such a cute couple!”

Donna beamed. “I think so too! Oh, why didn’t Jason tell us?”

“Probably because he’s still shy,” said Kory, nodding knowingly. 

Artemis snorted. “Or this is not a serious relationship for him?”

Donna and Kory snickered. Donna said, “Yeah, I don’t think so. He’s being secretive. And she’s being secretive. I can’t believe Bette didn’t tell me when we went for tea the other day.”

“What is this girl like,” asked Artemis. She didn’t know the members of the so-called Batfamily as well as they did. Donna and Kory knew Bette a lot longer than Artemis ever realized, especially when they both made plans to go out and hang with Bette. “I mean, she’s not going to hurt Jason, right?” Artemis was quite protective of Jason.

Kory shook her head. “If anything we should be worried that Jason might unintentionally hurts Bette’s feelings. You know how he can get sometimes.” Artemis winced. There were some days that there was just no talking to Jason, it was true and while she understood it, it was still hard to watch someone you cared about have a terrible mental health day.

Donna nodded in agreement. “Bette’s a sweet girl. She’s a lot like Dick, even if neither of them would admit it. And she’s a lot like her cousins, even if she doesn’t want to admit. She’s got a big heart. I wonder how their relationship started…ooh, I can’t wait to find out.” Artemis frowned. It was one thing to hear Donna and Kory talk kindly about her but they were nice people by default. She was going to have wait and see if Bette was good enough for Jason.

_~_~_~_~

It was a disaster. Artemis thanked the heavens, however, that Batman and Nightwing were both off on Justice League business, because if anyone was more overprotective of Jason Todd it was those two. Roy and Jason went off on one of their ridiculously destructive adventures and now, Artemis was in a piss-poor mood because Jason got himself kidnapped by a cult.

The remaining Outlaws, Red Robin, and Robin were at Red Robin’s safe house coming up with a plan of attack. All Artemis cared about was getting to the cult’s headquarters and busting some kneecaps.

“Now, again,” snapped the thirteen-year-old Robin, highly irritated at the whole situation too, “Harper, what exactly happened?”

“Can we not go over this again? Let’s just go get Jaybird,” said Roy, also annoyed because he’s been getting crap about leaving Jason in the hands of a questionable cult. But then, the door to Red Robin’s safe house opened and a red and yellow blur pounced, _pounced,_ on Roy, knocking him to the ground. “Ow, ow, BETTE, MY EAR DOES NOT GO THAT WAY!”

“What the flying fuck happened,” snarled Bette Kane. She wasn’t even dressed in her Flamebird uniform. She was dressed in a red fancy dress like many society people wore at charity galas. She was barefoot, though, but it looked like she rushed over from wherever she was. “What the two of your idiots do?!”

“Bette, ow, ow, I’m sorry,” said Roy, whimpering as Bette had his ear between her manicured nails. 

Artemis was impressed to the say the least. It was the first time seeing the warrior spirit clearly in Bette Kane.

Red Robin looked up from his tablet. “Ah, Bette, so stop being such a mom to Roy and get your spare uniform on, we gotta storm a cult’s castle.” Bette looked up and released Roy from her death grip of doom. The look on her face said that she was not done with Roy and heaven help Jason once he’s back safe and sound with them.

Artemis liked her. Bette would protect Jason.

_~_~_~_~

“So, this is like awkward,” said Bette, looking like a deer in the headlights at Donna and Artemis. Artemis just finished making their morning tea when Bette tried to sneak out of the safe house without anyone knowing. Both Amazons immediately saw her. On her shoulder, she had a bag with her Flamebird uniform sticking out of it. She was still wearing her red boots that went with her uniform, but also a pair of Jason’s sweatpants and t-shirts.

“Get home safe, Bette,” said Donna, with a knowing smirk. Artemis chuckled into her tea cup.

Bette’s face turned a particular shade of red. Sighing, she asked, “How long have you both known?”

“Three months,” answered Artemis.

“Ugh, the whole time, wow, we were not subtle at all, huh,” commented Bette. Donna giggled.

Artemis said, “He’s the one that wasn’t subtle.”

The fond look on Bette’s face made Artemis’ day.

_~_~_~_~

Artemis sighed as she sat next to Red Hood on a rooftop in Bludhaven. She handed him a bottle of water. “You’re being petty, Red Hood.”

“Fuck off, Arty,” said Red Hood, with no real heat in his voice.

“I don’t understand why you don’t woman up and tell her how you feel instead of being passive-aggressive,” said Artemis.

Red Hood snorted. “God, I shouldn’t have made you watch Big Hero 6. And this has nothing to do with Pretty Bird.”

Artemis laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“You don’t believe me.”

“Hood, she’s only off on a mission with Arsenal, Starfire, Donna, Nightwing, Raven, and Beast Boy,” said Artemis. “You’re being jealous and petty and it’s not manly. Talking and trust 98% of a successful relationship.”

Grunting, he said, “I know.”

_~_~_~_~

Artemis shuffled behind Donna as they made their way to the kitchen for their morning tea. Artemis clad in her fluffy bunny slippers and a long t-shirt almost tripped at the sight. Jason was already awake and making breakfast. By his side, Bette helping with breakfast as she was making the tea. She had the different types of tea out and it seemed that she was making a new blend. This was a new development.

“Morning,” said Jason, at the stove making pancakes. 

“Good morning, Donna, Artemis,” said Bette, looking over at them, smiling. “Tea’s almost done.” Artemis and Donna gave each other knowing looks and sat at the kitchen table, where another setting was noticeably there. Artemis was pleased that Jason finally was taking her advice. Artemis sat her in seat and Donna sat across from her in her seat.

“Are you making chocolate chip pancakes,” questioned Roy, bursting into the kitchen. “Bro, that’s Sunday morning breakfast food!” He plopped down in his seat. A fond smile on her face, Kory floated in after him. Bizarro entered, confused at the early morning noise.

“Yeah, stop being so loud, so early, you fucker,” said Jason.

Bette giggled as she brought the tea over for the majority of the table and the coffee (for Roy). “Be careful, Roy and you might not get the chocolate ones if you don’t behave.”

“Jaybird, you would dare deny me your chocolate chip pancakes, right? Right,” asked Roy, grinning.

Jason snickered. “I dunno. Babe, what do you think? Should we let him have some?”

Grinning, Bette said, “I think we’ll let him.” Roy looked at them and grinned wider. Artemis smiled. Roy was going to tease the shit out of Jason and Bette.

“Hey, Jaybird, don’t fuck it up.” It was not about the pancakes either.

“Piss off, Harper.”

Artemis felt happy. She had Donna, the love of her life, and her dear friends with her every day. And Jason was happier than he was in a long time. Bette was good for him. And he for her.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? Let me know.
> 
> And Question:
> 
> Does anybody know where I can get good but quick beta readers? I have my 200-page original fantasy novel that I need some feedback on!
> 
> Also:  
> Who would be interested in a five-part introspective look at Bette Kane via her various familial relationships, friendships, and romantic life? It would be filled with all my Bette Kane headcanons and a cohesive history for the character.


End file.
